Training Camp Notebook: October 1, 2023

WINNIPEG – Jets head coach Rick Bowness mentioned on Saturday that if Kyle Connor and Gabe Vilardi didn’t skate on Sunday, they would not be going to Calgary for the teams fifth preseason contest.

Neither Connor nor Vilardi were present at the hockey for all centre so they along with Nikolaj Ehlers will not be in the lineup in Alberta.

“We'd love to see him (Ehlers) play but he's not ready to play. It's as simple as that,” said Bowness.

“The other two still haven't skated, they're under the weather, and we've got to get them better."

Ehlers has been a full participant in practice the last couple of days, but it sounds like he doesn’t feel comfortable just yet.

“He's still feeling it a little bit. Until he's 100 percent, he's not going to play. But it's more him,” said Bowness.

“That's not the trainers pulling him. He's telling the trainers how he feels. He still feels something so we're not going to risk a further injury.”

HELLEBUYCK SHOULD PLAY FULL 60 MONDAY

Connor Hellebuyck played 27 minutes in his first appearance of the preseason against the Calgary Flames at Canada Life Centre last Wednesday. The Vezina Trophy finalist looked solid allowing just one goal on the 19 shots that he faced and then Oskari Salminen came into replace Hellebuyck. In the past, Hellebuyck would play the full 60 minutes in his preseason appearances.

"You don’t want to overdo it, but you also want to get into some routine. That’s the idea behind that one (Wednesday), get into your routine and you know, games are exhausting so you have to adapt, or get your body to adapt to it and the best way to do it is to touch it (the puck). I felt really good coming out of it and I wanted to make sure Oskari still got some time to play,” said Hellebuyck.

“I know when I was young, I cherished every minute in the net, so I wanted to give him some of that. But that being said, I got myself, we used it as a tool and used it as I want to say a management point and I needed to get my body ready and prepared for that.”

Hellebuyck is expected to play the final two preseason games against Calgary and Ottawa. With the regular season opener coming up on October 11^th, the 30-year-old just wants to start playing in games that count.

“You know, truthfully my thoughts are I really want it to start. I’m ready, still got some time to improve things but for the most part I’m ready for it (the regular season) to start,” said Hellebuyck.

“These practices, sometimes they can drag on. I’m really looking forward to playing some meaningful games and really pushing the pace and getting some adrenaline going.”

While he and his teammates are fine tuning their game on the ice, off the ice, Hellebuyck has been fishing with one of the newest Jets, Alex Iafallo. The Michigan product might have come up with a new nickname for Iafallo.

“You are going to have to start calling him the ‘cat whisperer’ because we’ve been going cat fishing and he’s been crushing ‘em. In fact, he even caught a sturgeon out of the Red River, so we’ve been doing a little bit of fishing on the Red,” said Hellebuyck.

“That’s not something I’ve been raving about because cat fishing is a little bit chill, sit there and wait for them to bite which has never been my style. But going out there with him, having a buddy has been kind of fun.”

ICE CHIPS

Before the Jets took to the ice on Sunday morning, the team announced that Ashton Sautner, Jansen Harkins, Jeff Malott, Kristian Reichel and Dominic Toninato were placed on waivers for the purpose of assignment to the Manitoba Moose.

The Jets are now down to 21 forwards, 11 defencemen and three goalies left at training camp.

Harkins and Toninato have had a good camp and will likely be a couple of the first call-ups should injuries occur up front for Winnipeg during the regular season.

“Go down and play like they did here. And they’ll be back. With injuries and everything else. They were both used (in the NHL) last year and they’ll see some games this year. With the schedule, the travel and the injuries,” said Bowness.

“We expect them to be dominant players down there and when we need help, with injuries or we’ve got to change things up, those are the first two guys we should be hearing about.”